Stay well with simple do-it-yourself remedies that work!

After discovering the importance of microbes to our health and our very existence, we had to take a fresh look at the subject of fermenting vegetables. Gut flora is responsible for immunity and absorption of nutrients, and up to 90% of our immune defense is in our intestines.

Our ancestors used fermentation for preserving foods, long before canned goods appeared in the supermarket. The first thing I discovered is that canned sauerkraut is not the real thing. Food subjected to extreme heat in the canning process is dead and cannot possibly possess the attributes that are afforded by natural fermentation.

Our first exposure to real sauerkraut was by purchasing a refrigerated glass jar from a health food store. It had a crunchy fresh taste, but was almost as sour as the canned type. The only ingredients were cabbage, water and salt, so I assume the lactic acid created the tartness. It should be used unheated, to protect the beneficial bacteria and vitamin C. The big surprise was the cost—over $5.00 for a 25 oz. jar.

We were advised to start out with very small servings of real sauerkraut each day. The beneficial microbes in large amounts could possibly cause a die-off of pathogenic bacteria, virus and fungi, releasing toxins which could cause temporary tiredness, rashes or headaches. We had no problems with it and quickly got accustomed to the taste.

The role of beneficial microbes:

• Rid the body of toxins, including heavy metals
• Enable the gut to produce more serotonin than the brain, benefiting mood
• Improve bowel function
• Increase immunity to illnesses and environmental allergies
• Decrease plaque formation on teeth
• Improve appearance of hair and skin
• Restore the balance of the body if antibiotics must be used

This is an excerpt from my book, “How to Stop Colds, Allergies & More.”

In 2003 I was introduced to the Soil Food Web at a native plant conference. For most of my life, gardening organically just meant using compost and mulch, and avoiding poisons and chemicals. But here on a big screen was the whole story of what is going on beneath our feet—how a teaspoon of healthy soil is full of millions of microbes, including bacteria, fungi, and other critters that have a synergistic relationship with the plants and provide nutrients in exchange for the sugars that plants make through photosynthesis. Everything eats something else, not all nematodes are bad, microbes also live inside the plants, and so forth.

We have always been told that plants don’t know the difference between natural or synthetic fertilizers, as if that somehow justifies the lifeless soils across our country. For more information about real soil, see the Soil Biology Primer, available through the online store of the Soil and Water Conservation Service.

Well, guess what, folks? The same applies to us! Only about 10% of the cells in our body are of human origin. The rest are bacteria, fungi, and who knows what else. While they represent far less than 90% of our weight, the roles they play in our existence are still being discovered and may never be fully understood. I know this might be shocking, if you have not heard it before–but just ask any microbiologist.

The next question is, what have we been doing to the fungus among us, not to mention the bacteria? Well, let’s see. Antibiotics kill bacteria, not all bacteria are bad, and the details of our synergistic existence are still being discovered.

For example, H. pylori was linked with stomach ulcers; so it has been widely eradicated with antibiotics. Now we are learning that it also has beneficial uses, like assisting hormones in the stomach that tell us when we are full. Could that be a little clue to some of our obesity problems? It also is believed to have a role in preventing esophageal cancer, asthma, and other conditions. H. pylori is just one of many hundreds of species of bacteria that live in our gastrointestinal tract, most of which have not yet been identified, not to mention the numerous microbes that occupy other parts of our bodies.

In studying the soil food web, I learned that trees and perennials like fungi-dominated soils, while vegetables, annuals, and grasses prefer more bacteria. What do antibiotics do for the balance of fungi and bacteria in our bodies? I just know that antibiotics can have a negative effect on our digestion and are not appropriate for most chronic sinus infections, as mentioned above.

According to several health newsletters which I have received recently, our metabolic pathways are a series of chemical reactions our bodies perform to stay alive. Since the role that microbes play in our metabolic pathways is still unfolding, we really don’t know how many species of microbes may be critical to our existence. We can expect to hear a lot more about new discoveries regarding invisible friends and foes.

We have become almost obsessed with sterilizing our floors, hands, and even babies. Now we are learning that some of the healthiest children have been inoculated through mother’s milk, gradual introduction to grass and soil, etc. It is time to realize that not all bacteria are bad, and some are even beneficial. Antibacterial products are not the answer for everything.

Part 2 will include comments on an article by Dr. Joseph Mercola about fermenting your own vegetables and Part 3 will contain my recipe for the above photo.

“So I peeled this apple at lunch today but didn’t eat it. I peeled it because it was conventional and I didn’t want to eat the petroleum wax coating. I forgot about the second half, which sat on the counter all day until 8:00 this evening. When I picked it up, I was quite surprised to find that, except in a few bruised places, it had NOT TURNED BROWN AT ALL. And they say irradiated food is ok to eat? It’s totally dead and without enzymes!”

This brought back memories of childhood, when I had negative feelings about a fruit than tended to turn brown before you finished eating it. I thought it was trying to rot before my eyes. Only now do I appreciate the science behind it and the importance of raw foods for the nourishment of our bodies. I always peeled apples, despite being told that the skins contained a large percentage of the nutrients. But now we are told that apples may have as many as 27 different pesticides and other chemicals, many of which are systemic and cannot be peeled off.

Apples are one of the super foods in the American diet. They are filled with antioxidants and have a reputation for fighting asthma, cancer, heart disease and type II diabetes. On the other hand, they also compete for top position on recent lists of the dirty dozen fruits and vegetables–along with peaches, celery and strawberries–because of the toxic chemicals used to grow conventional produce.

Can it still be true that an apple a day keeps the doctor away? In my opinion it is possible only if you can find a source of fresh, organic apples. I can’t imagine that members of the dirty dozen would boost immunity to the common cold, allergies or any of the usual maladies that cause most of our visits to the family doctor.

Thank goodness we can rely on plain vitamin C powder to supplement our diet rather than relying solely on fresh fruits and vegetables to get enough vitamin C.

Since we live in the South, our apples are shipped in, and we are usually limited to enjoying them in season, which is best for health anyway. Fuji and Red Delicious apples are reported to have the highest phenolic and flavonoid content. We used to get some beauties from our local discount club, but not any more. I suspect there is a growing demand for organic produce as more people learn the advantages of it.

My expertise on the subject of allergies comes from over fifty years of putting up with reactions to smoke of all kinds, dust, perfume (no matter how expensive), musty paper (no matter how interesting) and many pollens which shall remain unidentified. I experienced headaches, nausea, congestion, sinusitis, chronic cough, sneezing, earache, various secondary infections, and feeling under the weather for a good chunk of my life.

I tried various over-the-counter and prescription medications, to no avail. They are more likely to cause liver damage than to cure an allergy. Why use a whole-body treatment for a very small, localized problem?

Secondary infections would usually result in the use of antibiotics, which are now known to affect the balance of thousands of species of microbes which inhabit our bodies–more of which are beneficial than bad.

The remaining professional advice was usually about avoiding the irritants—never mind that pollens can travel hundreds of miles and exposure to most of the other culprits was often beyond my control.

Now I know it was all for no good reason. No one is really allergic to any of those substances! Some human bodies just think they are. How unfortunate.

One day in November of 2004, I read an article written by a chemist, explaining how to avoid the common cold. He said his very inexpensive method would stop the histamine reaction caused by cold viruses. Just stopping the reaction and preventing congestion would make the cold go away. It turned out that his technique is also effective against the excessive histamine reactions of the body caused by false alarms about harmless irritants.

The rest is history. I can honestly say I have not had a cold, a headache or any repercussions from allergies since that time. If I notice that my nose doesn’t like something, I can help it relax and go about its ordinary business. No more fake allergic reactions are permitted.

Yes, I know. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is–or is that an old wives tale in this instance?

I have no experience with food intolerance, extreme reactions to insect stings or contact allergies that can cause severe inflammatory responses. But if you share fake allergies to substances which are not really harmful, I recommend that you investigate this further.

You really can stop cold sores (fever blisters) before they erupt–without resorting to any of the risky remedies posted on various websites. My simple solution is based on the concept of transdermal absorption. Don’t underestimate what can be absorbed through your skin.

Estimates of the rates of herpes simplex virus type 1 infection vary widely from sixty to ninety percent worldwide, and from about twenty percent of American children to over eighty-five percent of senior citizens. Therefore, it appears that most of us will suffer from this nuisance sooner or later. There is really no reason for embarrassment, other than the cosmetic effect and the fact that cold sores seem to appear when we are already stressed about something else.

Although there is said to be no cure, many products are available for shortening the duration and making us more comfortable in the meantime. But the remedy I have discovered beats that hands down. You can put a stop to them before they break out!

As soon as you feel the unmistakable tingling sensation and bump under the skin, you can stop it short. All you need is a cotton swab soaked with mouthwash containing at least 14% alcohol. Hold it gently on the spot for at least five minutes. This should allow enough time for the alcohol to soak through your skin or lip and destroy the pesky virus. Dabbing it on does not work. You must keep the spot wet long enough to allow the alcohol to soak in. The treatment can be applied from inside the mouth also, if needed.

You could even use vodka (plain ethyl alcohol). It doesn’t have to be full strength. It could be diluted with two parts of water and still be strong enough to kill the virus. Please do not use isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) for this purpose. It is much too strong and is not recommended for use around the mouth, according to the poison control centers in America.

If a cold sore has already broken out, alcohol would probably be painful–even if it is diluted. I am sorry I don’t have any recommendation for that. Ever since I devised this way to stop cold sores before they start, I have not had to deal with that phase.

Recently I read that the virus which causes cold sores on the mouth can contribute to Alzheimer’s or dementia; and it is best to treat any outbreaks as quickly as possible–to make the virus return to the dormant stage. You probably don’t need any extra motivation to rid yourself of a cold sore, but that is something to think about.

If you find this tip to be effective, please tell a friend. This simple remedy deserves to go viral (pun intended). This article may be shared freely; but please give credit to the author, Carole Ramke, and reference this blog or my website at howtostopcolds.com.

If you ever have colds or respiratory allergies, you might be interested in my simple methods for stopping those symptoms as soon as they start. My book, How to Stop Colds, Allergies & More, is available for $9.99 at amazon.com or through major bookstores.

Mark Twain once said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” I have noticed more and more examples of the latter lately–especially in the areas of health and wellness.

Like many young mothers, I became more interested in the subject of nutrition when our children were babies. As a result, they did not have frequent colds and allergies like most of their classmates.

I remember when one of our sons came home from school complaining that something was wrong with his nose. I was checking to see if he had gotten bruised or something when he explained that he couldn’t breathe out of one side. I started laughing before I realized his feelings were hurt by my insensitive reaction to the fact that he didn’t even know what a cold was. This was followed by time out for some extra TLC and vitamin C.

The Adele Davis books were my favorite references during those years and the benefits of her advice were obvious, not only for the children but also for the parents, although we didn’t follow her recommendations as closely for ourselves.

After her death, I noticed that at least one of her books was revised by someone who had bought into the new assumptions about the dangers of cholesterol. It turned out, however, that she was right all along–cholesterol is not the culprit in heart disease. See my Resource page at www.howtostopcolds.com for reference to the book by Dr. Tom Levy, showing that our deficiency of vitamin C is actually at fault.

The books by Adele Davis are rather outdated now, but I still use them as a backup reference because some things do not change. No one can know everything, and many scientific advances have been made since her death.

Unfortunately, Adele Davis was discredited by some and labeled a quack. It is discouraging to see the same kind of things happening today to some of our pioneers in nutrition and wellness.